Group Assignment
by Gatituh
Summary: Ryou end's up getting to work with his crush on a group project. But things dont end up going the way he planned. When bullies and his Yami start interfering, things go from bad to worse. Rated M for violence, gore, language, and sexual content.
1. Part 1: The Lunchroom

The bell had just rang for the lunch shift. The teacher was discussing a group assignment that we would have to turn in for next week in which we would have to work in pairs, which is why I was so eager to leave when the lunch bell rang. I hated having to socialize with the other shallow students in my class and I really didn't want to think about going back to class and having to be paired up with a partner by the teacher since no one ever wants to work with me. I just wanted to get my food and go eat somewhere alone without being bothered.

I made my way to the end of the lunch line and looked around at the other students while waiting to get my food. Same as always, everyone was laughing with their friends and enjoying themselves, taking no notice of me. I looked over at Yugi and his friends, my heart aching a little. I bet they all already picked their partners for the assignment. Even till this day, I wish they still talked to me. I had never really had any friends growing up until I came here and met Yugi. He seemed to be just like me in every way; shy, quiet, and even a bit socially awkward. Yet he had friends, and I still don't. If it wasn't for his stupid friends, I probably would have had a chance of not having a lonely life. Yugi caught my eye and I looked away quickly. _Nothing's ever going to change_…

I sighed and grabbed a tray. Making my way through the line, I paid for my food and made a beeline for the cafeteria door. The quicker I can get outside, the quicker I can be alone. But in my process of making my way to the door, I didn't notice Ushio walking towards the door as well. Just before I got there, he stepped in front of me, smiling menacingly.

"And where do you think you're going? It's against the rules to leave the cafeteria without a teacher's permission during the lunch shift."

I looked down at his feet. I knew this was true, but no one ever cared. No one ever even noticed. Like always, it was like I was invisible, except for today. Ushio must be in an extremely bad mood for him to even be bothered with stopping me over something so trivial as leaving the cafeteria.

"_Let me deal with him."_

No. Anytime my Yami stepped in during school, I ended up having to stay late for detention. Or even a few days worth of suspension. _I'll be fine_. I looked up at Ushio defiantly.

"No one has ever cared before. I don't see why anyone should care today." My confidence faltered slightly as his expression changed to a scowl.

"Are you defying me and the school rules? I'm a hall monitor, and as so, I'm required to enforce these rules and report you if you break them." Whatever. He's never stopped his friends when they skip class. Or when they smoke behind the gym during Phys. Ed. He's just a bully. And I really wasn't in the mood to be bothered today. Before I could stop myself, the words slipped out of my mouth.

"What do you fucking want?" My eyes widened and I quickly looked down, bracing myself for what could happen next. _Where did that come from?_

"What did you just say to me?" He grabbed me by my collar and pulled me to him, my toes just barely touching the ground. My food fell to the floor and splattered all over my shoes.

"N-nothing. I was just… I was…" I could sense people starting to stare. I glanced up and saw Yugi and his friends watching us. _Great._ I was thankful my hair was long enough to hide the red of embarrassment in my face.

"Back talk like that can get you sent to the headmaster's office. Or worse…" I looked up into his face and took a deep breath. He raised his free hand, preparing to strike. I closed my eyes, waiting for his fist to make contact with my face.

"Leave him alone, Ushio." That voice. Oh, I definitely know that voice. Ushio let go of me and I dropped to the ground. I straightened out my shirt and looked up at the source of the voice. I found myself looking up at the most beautiful sight. Ayumi Sato. She was a quiet girl with a light pink braid down her back and a giant purple bow tied at the end. She moved here from America when she was younger and had the faintest southern American accent. It was pretty adorable mixed with her japanese dialect. She had this sweet, innocent look about her and I had taken a liking to her from day one. She sat two seats in front of me in class so we were always in the same group for discussions or in-class assignments. She was probably the smartest girl in our grade.

Ushio never liked having confrontations with girls. I never understood why. "He was breaking rules; and talking back to me. I should report him to the headmaster."

"He didn't do anything wrong until you provoked him, so just leave him alone." She reached out her hand to help me up. I looked up at her thankfully as she pulled me to my feet. Ushio scoffed. "Next time you won't be so lucky." I assumed that meant he would just find me after school later, but why worry about that now. He walked away and I looked down at my feet shyly.

"Thanks," I whispered. Being helped by a girl during a fight sure wouldn't help me make any friends, but I really didn't care. I was just in shock of the fact that Ayumi stood up for me. She pulled me over to a seat in the corner and handed me a napkin.

"To clean your shoes," she said, smiling slightly. I started wiping the food residue off my shoes. "Ushio can be such a jerk sometimes. If the teachers weren't so scared of him, they'd revoke his hall monitor privileges. It doesn't really matter though. He'll never make it to a University with his grades."

I couldn't help but smile at this. It is true. Ushio was already held back twice and was on his way to being held back again. But why was Ayumi being nice to me or even talking to me for that matter. The only time we ever really spoke to each other was in class during group discussions. And even then it was just about the topic the teacher assigned.

"Ryou?" Oh lord, she must think I'm brainless. I'm just sitting here not saying anything. But what can I say? I'm never really good at conversations. So I just said the only thing that was really on my mind at the time.

"Why did you help me?" She looked a little taken aback. I don't think she expected me to ask that. But her expression quickly changed to a smile.

"I hate bullies. I have three older brothers and they always pick on me. One thing it's taught me is how to have a tough backbone in situations like that. Ushio drives me nuts anytime he messes with anyone. And you're really such a nice guy."

Why would she think that? I can recall plenty of times when my Yami would take control of my body during class just to stand up to someone. And the things he would say were never pretty. I can't imagine she would think that was _nice_. _Don't be stupid! She's paying you a compliment!_ _Don't just sit there. Do something!_ I smiled again, which seemed to satisfy her. She leaned back and went on talking. I wasn't really listening though. I just sat there watching her while she played with her food and talked more about her family. Bloody hell, she's really quite adorable. My eyes traveled up her neck to her lips. Those beautiful lips. Wait… they stopped moving. I looked up at her eyes. She was _staring_at me. She must think I'm a complete bloke. I haven't really said anything. Why do I have to be so awkward?

She cocked her head to the side and smirked a little. "You know, I don't believe what people say about you."

"What do you mean?" What do people say about me? Are there rumors? Who would start a rumor about me?

"About what happened at your previous schools. About all those people going in to a coma. I've kinda watched the way you act with other people. You're too nice to ever have done anything like that. " Oh, if she only knew. Personally I didn't really know much either. Back at my old schools, the spirit was powerful enough to block me out entirely. But lately I had been getting strong enough to at least sense what was going on when he controlled my body. Ayumi had gotten quiet again. I kept letting my thoughts run away and forgetting to talk.

"Actually, Ryou, I kinda wanted to ask you something; _before_ stupid Ushio got in the way."

"Okay…" Why? What could she want? _And why doesn't she think I'm weird_, I added as an afterthought. I waited for her to respond but she just sat there pursing her lips. "Well?"

"Well… I was hoping you'd be my partner for the group assignment. I can't really stand working with anyone else in class because they never put forth any effort when I work with them and they just end up getting an A for all of _my_ hard work. But you always do so well on every assignment." She paused for a second. "It'd be nice to work with someone smart for a change."

Really? She thought I was smart. I bit my lip, trying to hold back my smile. She seems to make me smile a lot. Something I haven't really done in a long time. "Yeah… I mean… Sure." She giggled quietly.

"Awesome! I'll tell the teacher when we get back to class. And you can meet me at the library on Saturday to work on it." She stood up to go throw away her tray and handed me her left over apple. "Here. Since Ushio ruined your lunch." I took it from her and she smiled at me before she walked away.

I sat in the corner for the rest of the lunch period with an amazing high.

_Maybe she liked me._ I took a bite of Ayumi's apple and leaned back against the wall._I mean she did compliment me a few times. And she wasn't completely freaked out when I just sat there staring at her. Not to mention she saved me from getting sent to the nurses office. _

_"Don't be stupid, she was just being nice. She wouldn't have done any of that if you didn't get assigned that stupid group assignment in the first place."_ My Yami tended to interrupt my thoughts like this during school. He really loved to make me feel bad. I squeezed my eyes shut.

_Just shut up! Can't I just be happy for once?_My Yami retreated back into the ring and didn't bother me for the rest of the day after that. The bell finally rang for us to go back to class. I waited for most of the people to clear out before I got up to leave. I finished off the apple and threw it away before I left the cafeteria. I couldn't wait for Saturday to get here.


	2. Part 2: The Library

It was Saturday finally and I was waiting outside the library for Ayumi to arrive. It was a quarter after one and she promised to be here for 1:30. I sat on a bench next to a tiny tree full of little blue birds. I smiled and watched them flit around in the sunlight. Today was such a perfect day. As I kicked my feet on the concrete below me, my Yami hazily appeared on the bench next to me. I drew my eyebrows together, trying to avoid looking in his direction.

_What are you doing here? _

_"Oh, nothing. Just making sure you don't do anything stupid. I've noticed you have a knack for getting yourself in trouble."_ He pulled a shiny object out of his pocket and my eyes shot in his direction. I stared, wide-eyed, as pressed the tip of his finger against the sharp end of a shiny, silver knife.

_Where did you get that? _

_"Don't be so surprised. I put it in your pocket this morning."_

_I don't remember that happening._

_"As I recall, you don't really remember a lot, do you?_" I looked back down at my feet, biting my lip. My Yami knew I didn't like it when he blocked me out. His mouth curled into a smile as he slid the knife back into his pocket. As he did, I felt it hard against my leg. _"Oh relax. It's not like you'll need it. I just like being prepared."_

_Don't mess anything up. _

My Yami laughed. _"Oh, if anyone is going to mess anything up, I'm sure it'll be you."_

A white car pulled up and Ayumi climbed out of the passenger's seat. My Yami faded away as I stood up and she walked around the car to give her mother a hug through the window. I watched as they exchanged a few words and then her mother drove off. Smiling, Ayumi made her way next to me. "Ready to get to work?" I smiled and followed her inside. I wasn't going to let my Yami ruin this perfect day. Especially not when Ayumi looked so cute, her braid swinging from side to side as we wandered through the library. We found an empty table at the back and took out all our stuff for the assignment, which truly was a horrible assignment, really. We had to pick a scene from the book we were assigned to read for class last week and then act it out in front of the class. After that, we both had to briefly explain the scene with visuals and discuss why it was crucial to the plot of the book. I was dreading the presentation. I hated having to do anything in front of the class.

Once we had everything out, we got to work. She had already picked a scene to work with and was really eager to discuss it. I watched her dainty hands move over the words printed in the book. She began reading the scene out to me and again my eyes made their way up to her lips. I watched them as she talked, so beautiful and pink. She looked up at me and smiled. "So romantic, isn't it?" It was a love scene between the two main characters. Nothing really happened in the scene except that the boy learned how the girl truly felt about him. I blushed when she explained how we should act it out. She must like me if she wanted to act out the love scene.

After that, we quickly got to work on the visual. We decided to make a poster board for the project. It was pretty basic. I mean, even a third grader could do it. I said this to her, which made her laugh. She thought I was funny, and that made me feel even better. We got the majority of the work done, and after an hour or two of working, we decided to take a break. Ayumi got up to go to the bathroom, and I gathered up all of our trash and made my way to the trash can.

_She must like me. I can tell she does. _

_"Ryou, don't do anything stupid. I knew this was going to happen. All those silly dreams you had about her last night." _I blushed, remembering the sensual dreams surfacing in the forefront of my mind._ "I know you don't believe me, but she doesn't feel the same way about you." _

_Shut up, Yami! _

_"No, you're going to get hurt again like what happened with Yugi. Quit being stupid. Just finish the dumb project so we can go home!" _

_Ugh! You don't know what you're talking about. You just don't want me to be happy! Would you just leave me alone?! _

_"Whatever. You can't say I didn't warn you…"_He left me then, and I threw the trash into the trash can, frustrated. Why does he always do this? I kicked the trash can, and two people sitting nearby looked up at me. I quickly turned away and made my way back to our table. Ayumi was already there, leaning back in her chair.

"So Ryou, why don't you tell me about your family? I talked about mine the entire lunch shift the other day. You must've been so bored. What's your family like? Do you have any siblings?" My family. What family?

"No… Well, not anymore." I mean, I did have a sister. Once. Years ago. She was younger than me and the greatest little sister anyone could ever ask for. But that was before the accident. And I haven't really seen my mum since then. She detached herself from me and my dad after the accident. She didn't want to have any emotional connection to us for fear that something like that could happen to us as well. She didn't want to feel the same pain all over again. And then there was my dad. He was an archaeologist and was always out on expeditions. If he was ever home, it was only for a few days at a time and then he would disappear for another two to three months. And even when he was home for those short periods of time, he was so buried in his work and spent most of his time at the Domino city museum reorganizing exhibits. I was basically alone. It felt like I had no family at all. Except for my Yami, who always seemed to be there. But I couldn't just tell her about him, now, could I? We sat in silence for a moment before either of us said anything.

"Oh. Ryou, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry or anything." She looked at me sadly and I looked away angrily. Great, now she just pities me. She reached over and squeezed my hand as if trying to make me feel better. It worked and I managed to let out a small smile. "Why don't we just get back to work? We're almost done and my mom is gonna be here in an hour."

Ayumi started pasting the last of our poster board together and I just watched her. I was surprised she wasn't more curious. Perhaps she was just too polite to delve deeper. I bit my lip, smiling, watching as her eyes shifted over the different sections of the poster. She ran her tiny fingers over the newspaper cutouts to see if they were dry and smiled lightly. She was so beautiful, so sweet. "Ayumi…" She looked up at me with those sweet green eyes of hers. Before I could stop myself, it happened. I felt like I could never control anything I did, but this time I didn't care. I wanted it to happen. My face gravitated to hers, and then suddenly, our lips met. But it was only for half a second, because she quickly leaned back away from me, gasping.

"What are you doing?" Her eyes were wide and I was still sitting there puckering like a fool. I leaned back in my seat and my face grew hot with embarrassment.

"Nothing."

"Ryou, I'm sorry… I just don't like you like that. And if my parents knew what just happened. Oh I'll be in trouble for sure if they find out." She looked around frantically to see if anyone was watching. I covered my face with my hands. My Yami was right. He knew I would do something stupid. He _warned_ me to just stay focused. I'd give anything to be anywhere but here right now. I got up and grabbed my schoolbag. "Wait, Ryou, where are you going?"

"I'm sorry, Ayumi. I have to go." I turned to leave and knocked over the chair next to me.

"But what about the project? We haven't rehearsed or anything!" People were looking now; watching us. I quickly made my way to the exit. "Please, don't go."

But I had already made my way outside. I ran out the door and kept running for a couple of blocks, not even paying attention to where I was going. I just had to get away, far away. I felt tears brimming in the corners of my eyes and I squeezed my eyes shut, willing them away. When I finally felt like I was safe, I stopped three blocks away to catch my breath.

I really am stupid. I wish I would've just listened to my Yami. Somehow, he always knew what was best. He was stronger and wiser than I could ever even hope to be. I wish I could know how he does it. How he just shuts off his emotions and acts so tough.

When I finally caught my breath, I looked up and realized where I was. I was standing in front of Solomon Moto's game shop. _Ugh, why'd I have to stop here? Of all places, it just _had _to be here!_ I walked up to the window and gazed through it longingly. I stared into the shop at all the duel monsters card packs lining the walls. How I wished I could go inside and just play a game of duel monsters with Yugi. This place made me miss Yugi again. He was truly the greatest friend I had ever had the chance of meeting. And then my Yami had to go and mess it up like he always did. But maybe he did it for a reason? What ever reason he had for doing it had to be a stupid one. Yugi had no reason to harm me. Why did my Yami loathe him so much? I needed to get away from here. I couldn't take any more of this loneliness. I made my way to the alley next to the shop before anyone could notice me loitering at the front. To avoid thinking about Yugi, my mind drifted back to thinking about the past hour and I rubbed the back of my hand against my eyes. That wasn't any better, why couldn't I just think of something happy? Did I even have any happy memories? I sighed and kicked some rocks down the alleyway.

As I was stressing out about my so called life, I didn't hear the heavy footsteps coming up behind me. Suddenly, a huge fist hit me square in the eye and my body slammed back into the brick wall of the game shop. _Ugh, what now? Could this day get any worse?_ I looked up at Ushio towering over me. He was smiling down at me viciously. I stayed up against the wall, not sure where to go. I might as well just let him beat me and get it over with. If he doesn't do it now, he'll just come back for me later.

"It looks like your luck finally ran out. There's no one here to now to stop me from kicking your scrawny little ass." He grabbed me by my shoulder and pinned me against the wall, raising his fist, just as he did the other day. But before he could strike, I lost grip of reality and my Yami took control of the situation. Just before his fist made contact with my face, I raised my hand, stopping his in mid punch. Ushio's eyes widened in fright. "How'd you do that?"

A smile creeped across my face and I tightened my grip on his fist.

"You are so foolish. I have more power than you can ever imagine." I tightened my fingers more, nearly crushing the bones in his hand, while digging my nails in. My fingernails punctured his skin and he let out a yelp while yanking back his fist. He looked down at his bleeding hand, confused, and then back up at me. "Why don't you just leave us alone, now? We've had a long day and don't really have the patience to deal with someone stupid like you."

He growled and took another swing at me with his other hand, but I swiftly shifted to the side so his fist made contact with the brick behind me instead. I could practically hear the bones crushing as he cried out in pain. _Yes, Good_. With both hands bleeding, he pulled them close to his body and balled them up against his chest before shaking in pure anger. He came at me with full force, wrapping his hands around my neck, but I was too quick. Before he could do anything, I had swiftly pulled out my knife and poised it at his throat. His eyes glanced down at it, terrified.

"Don't do anything stupid. Lest you want me to dig this knife into your throat." A small trickle of blood began to drip down his neck, and I stared at it hungrily. Oh, I would give anything to finish him off. He backed up slightly, his hands falling to his sides, but only as much as I would let him. I rubbed my thumb against the blood trickling down his neck and then brought it to my lips, my knife still pressed against his neck with my other hand. I closed my eyes and sucked the blood from my thumb, cherishing the sweet metallic taste. My eyes flew open and and my lips curled into a menacing smile. He was scared and I was enjoying every moment.

"Wh- What are you?" My eyes widened at that question. He was ready.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that?" Before he could say or do anything, I took my knife and plunged it straight through chest. Ushio let out the most agonizing scream and stumbled backwards. I moved forward, my millennium ring glowing with power and vibrating against my chest. Slowly, I slipped into his head and wrapped my power around his mind, preparing to kill him in the most agonizing way I knew. I began to crush his mind with the power of my ring. He put his hands on either side of his head, as if trying to stop the pain, though I knew there was no way to stop such ancient Egyptian magic. Blood began to seep from his ears and his screams grew louder as I prepared to push him into the Shadow Realm. _"STOP! Yami, please! You'll kill him. Don't do this."_

Reluctantly, I backed off. Ushio crumpled to the ground, shaking with fear and pain, a puddle of blood forming around him. The boy had no idea what he was asking for, but I found it wise to respect his wishes. I decided to let the boy have control of his body again, resisting the urge to slit Ushio's throat, though I could do it so easily.

My vision blurred slightly before coming to focus on the sight before me. I looked down at the bloody knife in my hand and shook it from my hand, letting it clatter to the ground. What had my Yami done?! I lifted my bloody hands to my face, my fingers trembling before me. As I stared at my hands, I noticed something moving beyond them through the slits between my fingers. Ushio lay before me on the dirty ground in fetal position, whimpering like a child. I was mad at myself for being so happy that someone gave him a taste of his own medicine, though I was expecting it to be this harsh. How did my Yami even miss his heart? I heard someone come running out of the game store and I panicked.

"What's going on?!"

I looked to my left and saw Yugi come to a halt at the end of the alley, taking in the sight before him. His eyes widened when he saw me standing over Ushio, but before he could say anything, I took off running in the opposite direction. _Great, this is just what I needed_. Yugi was the only person that knew about my dark side. So at least he wouldn't rat me out to anyone about what just happened. Or would he? I suddenly remembered the knife I left lying on the ground back at the scene. How could I be so stupid?! I was sure to be found out now. If Yugi wouldn't say anything, then that knife would tell the cops everything they needed to know. I could hear the sirens in the distance and couldn't stop the tears from streaming down my face. It was all too much to bear now. My Yami had never committed something so serious and now I was in danger of getting caught!

When I finally got to my house, I ran up the stairs and straight into my bedroom. I slammed the door shut behind me and collapsed onto the bed, crying. I was miserable. That aching lonely feeling made its way back into my being. I just kept crying, shuddering every time I thought of the events of the past hour. Ayumi, Ushio, Yugi; they all probably think I'm some sort of freak now. Well, as if they didn't before. I'll never have a normal life. Maybe I was destined to be alone forever. Perhaps it was better for everyone, safer even, if I just didn't get close to anyone anymore. I felt my Yami's hand lightly rubbing my back. I sat up and looked at him, wiping the wetness off my face with the back of my hand. I noticed a bruise starting to form around his eye and I realized that I must have one too. Frustrated, I fell against his chest and he wrapped his arms around me, consoling me. "You were right, Yami. About everything. You always are."

He ran his fingers through my hair and rubbed my back until my crying ceased. The sun was going down outside and the room slowly got darker. Me and my Yami continued to sit in silence, although I could feel the warmth in his heart for me. It gave me the strength to get up and change into something comfortable. I made my way downstairs and grabbed a frozen dinner out of the freezer in the kitchen. After I warmed it up, I went to the living room and sat on the couch, eating it in silence. It wasn't that great, but after everything that had happened today, I didn't really care. When I went to throw it away, I passed my Yami sitting at the bottom of the stairs. He was just watching me as I threw away the leftovers and walked back towards the stairs. I stopped in front of him, waiting for him to move out of the way, but he didn't. Instead, he spoke to me, but it wasn't sweet and consoling like I hoped for.

"You should have let me kill him. Why'd you stop me, Ryou? It's not like that boy had a future anyways. And now he'll probably have to live a traumatized life after what just happened. I would have done him a favor by just killing him." I never even considered that. My body started aching some more. Now I have the added pressure that I probably just ruined someone's life.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "But who are you to decide who lives or dies. Not that... I mean… I appreciate what you did for me… You're the only one that has my best interests in mind."

I didn't know what to do anymore. I couldn't even decide which one of us was right and which was wrong. Maybe I should just let my Yami take control for good. He seemed to know more about life than I did. He was stronger and braver than I could ever be. And then the tears started again. My Yami took me by the hand and pulled me up the stairs to my bed. He laid me down and pulled the sheets over me. I let my tears soak my pillow as he sat on the bed next to me. I know he really does love me, but why would he do things like this to add so much pressure to my life. I forced myself to think of other things, happier things, but nothing could really come to mind. But even still, I slowly stopped crying again. I pulled the sheets up to my chin and rolled over. I tried to calm my mind and clear it of everything that had happened today. Eventually, my mind drifted off into a deep sleep.


	3. Part 3: Skipping School

I woke up Sunday morning with an empty hollow feeling. I was still shaking from the nightmares I had had all night about Ayumi and Ushio, different things happening in each one. One consisted of Ushio being ripped to pieces and eaten by the spirit. I remember waking up after that one screaming. I was shaking violently and it took me and hour to calm down. I forced myself to think of Ayumi and her beautiful pink hair. My mind started getting carried away and I began to have naughty thoughts about her just before I fell back asleep. It was then that I started having nightmares of embarrassing moments happening in front of Ayumi. There was one where I showed up to school naked and then another where she teased me for having no friends or family and how pathetic my life was. It was the last dream of the night that scared me the most. Ayumi was mutilated, with horrible words carved into her skin. The worst part was, it wasn't the spirit that had done it, but me. I stood over her body laughing maniacally with a knife in my hand. Yugi appeared in all my dreams briefly, but he never played a major role. Just seeing him in my dreams made me miss his friendship, though, and that was enough to create its own nightmare.

Now I was awake and reality came crashing down on to me. I remembered everything that had happened the previous day and I hugged my pillow and curled up into a ball, wishing to fall back asleep, but I couldn't. My body still remembered the nightmares that were fresh in my mind and didn't want to return to it. I reluctantly forced myself out of my bed and took a cold shower. My body ached from the beating I took from Ushio yesterday and I could feel that my black eye was swollen. I avoided the mirror for fear of what I truly looked like. I should have stayed in bed, though, because as soon as I got up, my Yami started badgering me about different ways to punish Ayumi for making me feel this way. He must have been spying on my dreams again, because he mentioned some of the things that occurred in my nightmares last night.

And then of course, he had his usual punishment, which involved trapping her soul within a doll. I wish he wouldn't do that. I know he was only keeping my best interests in mind but ever since I found out my past friends were trapped in my Monster World dolls, I had quit playing the game entirely. The dolls just suddenly became creepy after I found out what they truly were. I used to play it so much, and I enjoyed it, too. Now there's just one less happy thing in my life.

I really wished he would stop though. How could he just sit there talking about punishing Ayumi when I had just seen him nearly kill Ushio the previous day? I had to bite down on my lip just to keep from crying again. I eventually started biting so hard that I could taste blood seeping from my lip.

His brainstorming continued all day and he was really starting to scare me with the things he was coming up with. He had come up with so many different frightening or grotesque ideas that I had finally just turned on the TV and turned the volume all the way up to drown him out.

When I woke up for school on Monday, he continued his pestering. I knew if I went to school, he would try to take control of my body as soon as she appeared, so I stayed at home. The spirit seemed angry with my decision, but around lunch time, he quit his bickering and settled down into the ring. Everything seemed to be fine now, until around 4:30.

I was lounging on the couch when someone knocked on the door. My heart sped up a little, wondering who it could be. The cops? Oh, I hope not. I hugged the couch pillow to my chest as I stared at the door, wondering who could be on the other side. I didn't want to move. If it was the cops, I'd be arrested for sure. I slowly made my way to the door and looked through the peep hole. I groaned. It was her. I could see her mother parked at the curb behind her and she had some papers tucked up under her arm. I opened the door a few inches and peered out at her. She gasped when she saw me. "What happened to your eye?"

Shit. I forgot about that. I covered my black eye with my hand and spoke quietly. "It's nothing. I just ran into a few bullies on my way home Saturday." She started to say something, perhaps an apology, or something about how disgusting it looked, but I cut her off. "What do you want?" I didn't mean for that to sound so angry. I stared at her hoping she wouldn't be offended. And thankfully, she wasn't.

She looked up at me smiling and held out the papers. "I brought you the notes and assignments we had during class today." I didn't open the door wider or even reach out for the notes. Instead, I continued to just stare at her. Why did she have to come here?

_"Let her in, I promise I won't hurt her." _

_No, I don't trust you with her._

She stopped smiling and dropped her hand with the notes clutched in it back to her side. She shuffled her feet, perhaps to make the awkward silence a little less awkward. It didn't help.

"How'd you know where I live?" She bit her lip and bounced on her toes for a few moments before she answered. I watched as her pink braid swung back and forth behind her.

"Well, the teacher told me your address when I agreed to bring you your notes. And I kinda wanted to talk to you about our assignment as well." I looked back up at her and pulled the door open wider. I squeezed the door knob on the inside of the door, expecting the spirit to do something, but nothing happened. I relaxed a little, thinking maybe I could trust him for once, and opened the door wider, taking the notes from her.

"Thanks," I muttered. "I'm sorry about leaving so quickly Saturday. And… the other thing."

"Oh, it was not really a big deal. I didn't mean to, er, offend you or anything. You're a really nice guy." She looked down, blushing a little. "I'm flattered, really." We stood there in silence for a little bit before she said, "Can I come inside for a moment?"

_No._

That would be a bad idea. Terrible idea. The spirit was being very quiet, which made me kind of nervous. I could usually feel his excitement when he was given the chance to punish someone who "deserved" it, but I couldn't feel or hear anything. I had no idea if I could trust him or not. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Oh please, I can defend myself if you try to kiss me again," she said, jokingly. She giggled and I looked down blushing slightly. I could hear my Yami laughing in the back of my mind. She turned and told her mother she was only going to be a few minutes and then made her way past me. She was already inside now and I couldn't really shove her back out, so I reluctantly shut the door.

As soon as it was closed I knew I had made a terrible mistake. It felt like someone had roughly grabbed me by the back of my neck. I fell against my front door, supporting myself with my hands, as the spirit ripped me from my body. Suddenly the spirit had me tucked away inside my spirit room as he settled into my being.

"Ryou? Are you okay?"

I turned to face her. She looked worried. I chuckled lightly and advanced towards her, tossing the notes in my hand to the side. She backed up until I had her up against the back of the couch. I lifted my hand to touch her chin but she swatted it away, scowling as she did so.

"Wh-what are you doing?" All the happiness had gone from her face and it was only left with fear. She shifted uneasily but couldn't get from between my arms that had rested on the back of the couch on either side of her. My eyes traveled down her neck to her collar bone and then continued further. I pressed against her, putting my lips to her ear.

"I'm only taking what I should have gotten last time." I whispered, slipping one hand to her hip. She huffed angrily and tried to push me away, but I was too strong for her. I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her to me. "Oh, come on. Just a little kiss. And maybe more…"

"Get off of me!" She thrashed against me as I pressed my lips to her neck, biting down roughly. "Ow! Ryou, what has gotten into you? Get off! You're scaring me!"

I looked up at her with a crazed look in my eye. She stared at me with a mixture of fear and confusion. I could hear the boy screaming at me from within. He was struggling to regain control of his body, but I wasn't done with the girl just yet. I tugged her uniform shirt from her skirt and slid my hand up her stomach. She tried to scream but I had my lips pressed against hers before any sound came out. My tongue searched her mouth as my hand found its way to its destination. I squeezed her breast gently and bit down on her lip.

_Noooo!_

I looked up at Ayumi from the floor where I was sprawled. I had control of my body again. Why did the spirit release me? She looked down at me, shocked and confused. I must've screamed that out loud and not just to the spirit. Why wasn't she running away from me though? I covered my face in my hands and tried to hold back the tears.

"_She deserved it, Ryou._"

_No! She didn't! Everything that has happened was my fault, not hers! _

_"Weak…" _

_Shut up!_

I slowly started sobbing beneath my hands. I sensed Ayumi kneeling down beside me. She placed a hand on my shoulder and gently rubbed her thumb against the back of my neck.

"Ryou, are you okay?" She repeated. I wiped the tears from my face, avoiding looking at her.

"Thank you for bringing me notes. You should probably leave." I stood up and tried to walk to the door but she wouldn't take her hand from my shoulder.

"Ryou, who was that?" My eyes widened and I turned to face her. She knew that wasn't me? Could she know that was the spirit? Or did she just think I wasn't acting like my normal myself? I stared at her and crossed my arms over my chest shyly. I bit my lip and she spoke again as I was deciding what to do. "You… That… That wasn't you. I could see it in your eyes. Whoever that was, wasn't you."

Could I tell her? Should I tell her about the spirit of the millennium ring? No. I couldn't. Anytime I tried to tell anyone about him before, people thought I was crazy. My father even sent me to different therapists for years before they decided I didn't have some sort of mental disorder. I bit my lip and turned away from her. I didn't know what to say without sounding weird or crazy. I could just tell her it was me, but then she'd think I was some sort of pervert, if she doesn't already. But if I told her about the spirit she'd think I'm crazy, just like everyone else. I covered my face again and bit my lip.

"I know that you know there's someone else controlling your body. You fought whoever it was. That's not common for multiple personality disorder." She turned me to face her again. "What, er, is wrong with you?"

Maybe I could tell her. But how should I start? I mean, what should I say. It's probably best to be blunt. "There's a spirit living in my millennium ring that can take control of my body." I unbuttoned my shirt to reveal the ring and held it out to her. She took the ring in her hands and examined it.

"It's so cold," she said. It was always cold. I had gotten used to the feeling of it against me. I don't think there was ever a moment I remember the ring adjusting to my body temperature. She was looking past the ring now at my stomach. I had left my shirt open and blushed a little. I looked down at the scars made by the spikes on the millennium ring and quickly covered my stomach with my arms. I wish she wouldn't have seen that. I looked her in the eyes, waiting for her to doubt my explanation, but her expression remained unwavering. She seemed concerned about me but didn't really say anything more about the spirit or the ring. She stared at me for a moment then opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it.

"What? You don't believe me?" I sighed and averted my eyes. "I'm not surprised, no one ever does."

"I believe you."

"Wh-what?" She must have misspoken. No one _ever_ believes me. Why would anyone start now.

"I believe you. I mean, it's pretty farfetched, but being possessed isn't something that just doesn't happen. Like demons and stuff, I believe all that. And there's tons of different ways to try and get rid of him." Oh great. She thinks I'm possessed by a demon. I should have expected something like this. I could hear my Yami laughing at her in the back of my mind.

"He's not a demon." She looked at me unsure. "I _know_ he's not. He's more of, hmm, a ghost. And I don't want to get rid of him. He's the closest thing I have to family. Somehow, we're connected. I'm not really sure how, he never talks to me about himself. But he's the only person that's been there for me. Although, he is the reason I have to change schools so often, he only does what he does because he's looking out for me." I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to think about what just happened. "I'm so sorry for what he just did. I just can't control him sometimes. I told you not to come in, and when you did, I just, I couldn't stop him. He's too strong." I started crying again and she pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and rested my head on my arms.

"Hey, it's okay. It wasn't your fault." She gently rubbed my back. "So, that stuff about the kids going into a coma. It really is true?"

I let out a small heave and nodded. We were quiet for a little while before she spoke again.

"Let's just talk about something else. Are you still going to present our assignment with me on Wednesday?" What? How could she just change the subject like that? Doesn't she want to know more? I pulled away from her and looked at her. Oh no. That look on her face. She must pity me or something. Just like at the library. I sighed and told her I would still do the assignment with her. She smiled and leaned against the back of the couch taking my hands in hers.

"Ryou, we could be friends if you wanted. You're really sweet and I've just never really had a friend before." Friends. That never ends well. My Yami would just get rid of her after a couple days.

_"You don't seem to have a problem with her. And she wouldn't be interfering with my plans. Apparently you're okay with how she makes you feel, even though I think she's just toying with you. But I promise I won't do anything." _

_Yeah, well you promised you wouldn't hurt her just now and you still did. _

_"I didn't hurt her. I just messed with her a bit." _

_Well then promise you won't even touch her. _

_"Fine. I won't touch her." _

_Promise? _

_"Promise. I won't get rid of her. Not unless she gets in my way."_I didn't like how that sounded. But this is possibly the nicest thing he's done for me so far and I just knew she couldn't cause any harm.

"Are you sure you'll feel safe? I mean, after what just happened?"

"Yeah, it's fine. I may not trust that spirit or whatever, but I trust _you_." I smiled a little. Why did she have to be so sweet? There was a loud knock at the door and I jumped at the unexpected noise. I could hear Ayumi's mother yelling through the door. I didn't even realize how long we'd been talking. Ayumi quickly tucked in her shirt and made herself look normal again. I barely had my shirt buttoned before Ayumi swung open the door. Her mother looked angry and I'm sure she assumed we were up to something.

"I was just trying to explain the math homework to him!" she pleaded. That was a pretty good lie considering the amount of time she had to think of it.

"Go get in the car," she said. Ayumi nodded and ran to climb into the backseat and her mother followed behind her. I shut the door as they drove away and then collapsed onto the couch. I really hoped Ayumi wasn't in trouble. I wouldn't want to be the reason my friend got in trouble. _My friend_. I haven't had a friend in such a long time, it felt so good to say I had one.

* * *

><p>When Wednesday got here, we presented our assignment before lunch and it went better than I expected. We had time to rehearse it a little after school on Tuesday and it wasn't as awkward as I was expecting it to be. I wasn't as nervous with her up in front of the class with me and she was a natural at acting. When the lunch bell finally rang, we walked to the lunch room together and she asked me to sit with her. We laughed and talked about the assignment and how much the teacher just loved it. Towards the end of the lunch shift, she brought up a rather grim topic.<p>

"Hey, so did you hear about Ushio?" I avoided looking into her eyes and bit my lip. "No, what happened?"

"Well apparently he was attacked on Saturday. It was pretty bad. Apparently he was nearly stabbed to death, but the real issue is he's got some major mental issues now. People are saying he can't even form a coherent sentence anymore."

Ugh. The spirit was right. I ruined his life. I should have just let him die. Wait… what if they all know it was me that did it? Oh no. This can't be good. Even Yugi saw me. He wouldn't just let that go without telling someone, would he? He had to have told someone. Maybe someone had already matched up my black eye with what happened with Ushio.

"Do they know who did it?"

"No." I relaxed a little. "There weren't any witnesses and they can't really get anything out of Ushio. The only information they could extract from him about his attacker is that he was a tall glowing monster with long, shiny hair. But I don't really think they're taking anything he says seriously, though. Everything coming out of his mouth is complete nonsense. They had to hospitalize him and they think he'll be fully recovered in a few months, but from the way it sounds, I don't think he'll recover at all."

The bell rang just then and she got up to throw her tray away, but I stayed seated, thinking about what she just said. He remembered what I looked like. If he ever recovers, he'll tell everyone what happened.

_"Don't be stupid. He won't be recovering. I know what I did to him." _

_Are you sure? _

_"Don't doubt me. But even if he did recover, I wouldn't have a problem finishing him off before he could tell anyone anything."_

I bit my lip nervously. There was a bit of malice in what the spirit just said. He would enjoy doing that so much. I got up and followed Ayumi out of the cafeteria. She turned around quickly, gasping as if she suddenly realized something.

"Oh, Ryou, you don't think the guys that beat you up were the ones that attacked Ushio, do you?"

I laughed nervously.

"No, of course not. They were just a bunch of thugs. No real danger. They definitely weren't killers."

"That's good. I'd hate to think the same thing could have happened to you. You're just so sweet, I don't see how you could hurt…" She stopped mid sentence as the gears in her mind clicked to place. Her hands quickly covered her mouth as her eyes widened, piecing together the obvious puzzle pieces. "Ryou! You! That thing!" I quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her off to the side behind one of the lunch room trashcans. I took her face in my hands and looked her in the eyes, whispering urgently.

"Ayumi, you can't tell anyone. Please, it wasn't my fault. I couldn't control him."

"So he did do it!"

"Yes, but I can't get in trouble. I can't get locked up. Please!" She swallowed hard and glanced at the emptying cafeteria and then back at me. She furrowed her eyebrows as her lip trembled slightly.

"Ryou…" Oh no, please don't cry. "I wish I could help you. I wish your life wasn't so difficult. I'm so, so sorry." She wrapped her arms around my middle and pressed her cheek against my chest, hugging me tight. I stood there frozen with my arms away from my body, like an idiot, before finally hugging her back. It had been years since I had had a real hug. "I promise I won't tell anyone, okay? I don't know why I trust you so much, but I can just tell you wouldn't willingly hurt anyone." She pulled away and looked up at me, smiling with watering eyes.

"Come on, Ryou, we're gonna be late for class." She took my hand in hers and pulled me towards the classroom. To be honest, I didn't really care about Ushio now. Or what the spirit had planned for if he recovered. When I looked at her smile, all my worry just seemed to disappear. And I smiled too, squeezing her hand tight. It felt good to finally have a friend.


End file.
